A newly published analysis claims U.S. reports of deaths following measles vaccination outnumber measles deaths by 2,657% since 1995.
A study released in February by authors affiliated with the McCullough Foundation examined reports in the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and identified 299 U.S. death reports following receipt of measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, and measles-mumps-rubella-varicella, or MMRV, vaccines.
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is a national passive surveillance database co-managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. VAERS does not definitively establish that a vaccine caused an adverse event; rather, it records all reported health events that occur after vaccination, irrespective of their causality.
Yet, one 2010 study found that “fewer than 1% of vaccine adverse events are reported.”
The authors of the latest study reported that since 1995, VAERS contains 193 U.S. MMR/MMRV death reports with identifiable dates, compared to seven measles infection–associated deaths recorded nationally over the same period. They described that as a “2,657% higher count of reported vaccine-associated deaths” than measles deaths.
“We identified a serious mortality safety signal following MMR/MMRV vaccination in the United States,” the study concluded, citing clustering among children ages 1.0 to 1.5 years — the routine window for the first MMR dose — and deaths occurring within two weeks of vaccination.
The study found that 60.9% of reported deaths occurred in children under age 2 and that 40.1% were reported within seven days of vaccination. It also noted that 74.6% of cases involved the administration of MMR or MMRV, along with other vaccines, at the same visit.
Reported clinical features included sudden infant death syndrome, fever, seizures, and cardiac arrest.
VAERS, established in 1990, accepts reports from healthcare providers, manufacturers, and the public. The CDC website states that the system “is the nation’s early warning system that monitors the safety of FDA-approved vaccines and vaccines authorized for use for public health emergencies.” Reports can be submitted without proof that a vaccine caused the outcome, and events may reflect underlying medical conditions or background mortality.
The CDC states that two doses of the MMR vaccine are recommended for children, beginning at 12 to 15 months of age, and describes the vaccine as safe and effective. On its website, the agency says, “MMR vaccine is very safe and is effective at preventing measles, mumps, and rubella,” and adds, “There is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism.”
According to CDC surveillance cited in the study, seven measles-related deaths have been recorded in the United States since 1995.
“Here in the U.S., about 1 in 5 unvaccinated people will require hospitalization from measles… Measles can also lead to more severe issues, including pneumonia, encephalitis, brain damage, and pregnancy complications. Complications of measles can occur in anyone, including in healthy children and adults,” the Johns Hopkins website states.
Measles remains a disease for which immunization is still “Recommended for All Children,” even as the CDC has recently begun updating the Childhood Immunization Schedule, according to a January 2026 HHS press release.
The study’s authors called for “rigorous, transparent, and fully independent evaluation,” including active surveillance and record-linked cohort studies to assess background mortality and determine causality.
